I had an interesting experience last night where I almost left a blog comment (but didn’t). Here’s a short video I made to discuss what happened… I’d love to hear your reactions or thoughts if you’ve had a similar situation:

What do you think?

I Almost Left a Blog Comment is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

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When personal computers still cost multiple thousands of dollars and the internet was somewhere that only technical geeks would be found, the term IRL came to mean “in real life” as opposed to an online interaction.

Here’s a reality check for those using the internet in 2009: online life and offline life are one and the same. In order to be authentic and in order to be trustworthy, your clients, colleagues, and other associates are going to expect that you are one person. As you build offline client relationships, those clients are going to expect you’ll treat them in a similar manner online. As you meet and get to know people online, your first offline encounter will be a continuation of the trust and relationship that has developed.

We’ve moved beyond the point where we think of online and offline as separate worlds. Your Facebook site is you. Twitter is real life.

Photo by JoshuaDavisPhotography. COM, used under Creative Commons licensing

Online and Offline: It’s All Real is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

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We’re now into December, and if you’re like me you’re wondering what happened to most of 2009. With the new year approaching, it’s worth spending a few minutes and doing a bit of a retrospective on the past twelve months. It’s a good idea for any business to periodically step back and look at the big picture… and for photographers, social media and social networking have been a big part of 2009.

As I look at my photography business and what I did with social media this year, I see a few major themes:

• I did really well at networking via Twitter and finding new business. I can name several specific clients or deals that resulted from Twitter networking or recommendations on Twitter from past clients.
• I blogged a lot more at the beginning of the year, and got very inconsistent later on. This is something I need to change by blogging more often both about work/clients as well as services. Frequently updated content (like blog posts) presents an image of a dynamic, active business to visitors as well as keeping search engines such as Google indexing fresh material.
• My Facebook presence (at least as far as my business goes) is late to the game. I only created a fan page in the last few weeks, and haven’t really spent any effort there actively marketing my work. I can see some potential in using Facebook to sell to existing friends/family but I remain skeptical of the ability to enter new markets or find new clients. I’ll talk more about this in a future post.

Next week I’m going to post the natural followup: a look at my social media plans for 2010, and they’re going to include a bit of a twist.

Photo by GcD^3 pictures, used under Creative Commons licensing

Retrospective on my 2009 in Social Media is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

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I’ve talked a lot about how photographers can use Twitter (grab that paper if you haven’t already) as part of an online presence and marketing plan. Although it’s important to think about what to tweet, it’s also important to think about what not to tweet:

That tweet was posted yesterday by a wedding photographer that I follow. While it’s a true statement, and likely to get a few fellow photographer’s heads nodding in agreement, that’s probably not the message that one wants to be seen by clients, potential clients, or anyone with whom you’re attempting to build up a pre-sale relationship.

It’s always good to ask yourself: “Would I want a client who follows my Twitter stream to see this?” and if the answer is no, refrain from hitting that Send button.

How Not to Use Twitter as a Photographer is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

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What happens when something goes wrong? How do you react to failure online? Did a blog article generate too much controversy? Is a client unhappy with photos of them that you posted publicly? Did you post something in haste on Twitter that was better left unsaid? Much like offline life, it’s not a question of if you’ll make a gaffe, but a question of when.

In the traditional world of PR, companies would go into crisis mode, hiding from the media and only reluctantly admitting any sort of problem if forced. With clued-in individuals and companies using social media, there are a variety of tools available to help clear the air and get back to business.

What to Do When You Screw Up in Public

1. Admit it.
2. Accept it. Shit happens.
3. Apologize directly to the involved parties. An apology in public is best. If you tweeted something off color, tweet out an apology. If you wrote a blog post that went awry, respond in the comments and update the blog post*. Don’t make excuses, just admit it was a mistake and that that you won’t repeat it in the future. If you screwed up with a client, offer to waive some of their fees or give them a discount on future work.
4. Prevent it. Learn from your mistakes. Think twice before sending that tweet. If you’re going to blog something negative about someone else, make sure that you have your facts straight. Often it’s best to give them a chance to respond privately before calling them out in public.

Once the mistake is made, it can’t be undone, so it’s best to admit the error, offer apologies, and move forward.

* In general, avoid deleting content directly. Mark it out with strikethrough, note that it was updated, or if nothing else, delete it and note that inappropriate content was deleted. If you go back and delete the offending statements without offering explanation, it might appear that you’re trying to cover it up or deny that it happened.

Photo by LaurenHolloway, used under Creative Commons licensing

Oops… Now What? is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

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One of the great things about Flickr is that unless photographers have stripped it away, the EXIF data for a photo is accessible. In this screenshot, you’ll see that for a photo with EXIF information, most of the goodies are hidden behind a “More Properties” link:

Hit that link and you’ll see all of the info about the photo:

Viewing the EXIF data is a great way to find out more about how a photo was created (from a technical standpoint). Some photographers choose to strip away the EXIF data, preferring to keep the technical information a secret. Why? The usual reason I hear is a fear that someone might see the EXIF information and then go copy the photo. Trade secrets? Not exactly.

Share your EXIF info. It’s a great way for photographers to learn more about the technical aspects of photography. It’s a great starting point for a conversation. We all realize that having an expensive camera doesn’t make one a good photographer, and by the same measure knowing that a photo was taken at f/2.8 isn’t going to be of a lot of benefit if one doesn’t understand what that means. Don’t hide your EXIF data; share and help others learn.

Share Your EXIF is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

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